The Secrets of Lantash
by Scarecrows Host
Summary: Lantash's archenemy was thought to have been dead a long time ago, but Selmak has returned to inform Lantash that he is alive. Lantash and Selmak embark on a mission with SG1's help to destroy him.
1. Home Base

Selmak was running through Vorash at an alarming speed swearing in goa'uld.

"Tok'ra Cree, Lantash!" He said in his very deep symbiotic voice. The Tok'ra had pointed in the direction of Lantash's private quarters.

"Selmak! What is the meaning of this?" Lantash said in his deep voice.

Selmak wasn't sure how to explain the new information he had obtained from his recon mission, so a tired and out of breath Jacob took repossession of his body.

"Sobek is not dead." Jacob looked him dead in the eyes and Lantash returned his hard gaze.

"Are you sure?"

Jacob nodded. Lantash yelled. "I will kill him!" Jacob took him by the shoulders and shook him. "Patience, my friend. We need the help of the tau'ri." Lantash bowed his head at Jacob.

"I agree."

The pair ran to the Stargate and fled Vorash, leaving the other Tok'ra to explain to the high council where they had gone.


	2. Unscheduled off-World activation

Walters voice came out over the intercom with a loud boom. "Unscheduled Off-world Activation." He said.

Daniel, Jack, Sam and Teal'c reported to the control room, with General Hammond walking closely behind them. "It looks like it's the Tok'ra, sir."

"Open the Iris." The General said.

"Could be dad." Jack smiled.

"Hope so." Carter smiled back, "it's been awhile since I last saw him."

All the members of SG1, made their ways down to the Gate room to greet whoever was going to exit the wormhole. To SG1's surprise, Martouf and Jacob ran down the ramp very rapidly, both out of breath.

"Hey fella's." Jack waved to his two Tok'ra friends. "What's the rush?" He looked at them and saw that they were flustered.

"Jack we have a problem." Jacob said.

"Nice to see you too, Jacob. I'm fine, thanks for asking." He shrugged sardonically, hands in pockets rocking back and forth on the soles of his feet. A sly smile crossing his face at standing next to his second in command.

"What happened?" Daniel asked.

Jacob rolled his eyes and breathed with a loud huff. "Good to see you too, Jack. But seriously, we need your help."

"What didn't just drop by to say hi to little old me?"

A stern look and a cold "sir" escaped his second in commands mouth. He sobered up. Sort of. "What's the intergalactic emergency this time, sir?" Carter rolled her eyes at the Colonel's acknowledgement of her father's former rank. Then she bent down to pick Martouf off of the floor. Jack did the same for Jacob, who never took his eyes off of Carter.

Martouf hugged Carter, "It is good to see you Samantha. I only wish that it was under different circumstances." She gave him a polite smile.

"Sorry Kiddo, but can we go someplace else."

"Yeah, sure."

Each human and Tok'ra, left the Gate room to find General Hammond already in the debriefing room. "Jacob," he said.

"It's good to see you, George." He said calmly.

"Is something wrong?"

"Unfortunately, yes. But I've got a lot to tell and not a lot of time to tell it."

Everyone sat themselves around the table. Jacob and Sam were holding hands like father and daughter. They both turned to each other and Sam rested her head on Jacob's shoulder and Jacob tenderly kissed her forehead. Jack smiled.

"Daniel, do you know who Sobek is?" Jacob started.

"Yes of course. He is the Egyptian god of the Nile often represented by a man's body and a crocodiles head in hieroglyphics'. Why?"

"Many hundreds of years ago, Lantash established himself as a Lord under his command," Jacob indicated to Lantash as he took his seat opposite of Sam. "Sobek found out where Kinsgard was. Which was the name of the Tok'ra home base at the time. He give Lantash orders to destroy it." Jacob took a deep breath and carried on, "But refused his orders. Lantash then blew up the Mothership that he and Sobek were in and Lantash rung aboard another vessel close by and left Sobek to die." He stated, "But I have reason to believe that he is not dead." Martouf casted his eyes downward in guilt.

"Courage, my friend." Selmak said in usual deep voice, then Jacob took repossession of his body. "Selmak and I went to a planet that we call Memes on a recon mission, to see if it was safe to establish a new home base should the need arrive, but found out that Sobek had survived and is rebuilding an army.

"It is imperative that we reclaim this Planet, George."

"Memes, sounds familiar." Samantha told them pensively.

"Jolinar's last host was a women by the name of Aurisa. She was from a planet called Memes." Lantash stated. Samantha's eyes grew wide as her dad continued with his story.

"When I was there, none of the Naquada mines had been mined. My guess is, Sobek has been there waiting for Lantash to return and kill him, but there is a bigger problem," Jacob paused and waited to make sure he had caught everyone's attention. When he realised he had, he continued. "Over the course of a few hundred years, the Naquada from the planet has accumulated and reached to almost the core of the planet. The deposits are huge and Sobek plans to mine it, and use it to make weapons so that he can launch an attack on earth."

The gravity of what Jacob said had sunk in. The people sitting around the table took deep breaths and the Colonel muttered "oh for crying out loud. Marty is wanted in goa'uld town now the snakehead is coming after us?"

Then Lantash spoke up. "I am sorry. I thought I had killed him long ago."

"So what do you want us to do?"

"We need to go back to the planet to stop them building the ships or destroy them before they leave Memes orbit."

"Not gonna happen!" The colonel exclaimed.

"Colonel?" General Hammond asked.

"If they really are waiting for Marty and his snake, we'd be walking into an ambush."

"We're not going by stargate, Jack. We're going to gate to Vorash and fly a cargo ship there." Jacob could see that O'Neill was seriously contemplating not going out of fear for the rest of his team. Jacob leaned forward and spoke to Jack directly. "This is earth we're talking about. Settling an old vendetta," he said glaring at Martouf who was still at a loss for words, "is a secondary objective here. We need to blow up the ships before they get here."

"More and more I hear of this the more it's beginning to sound like a suicide mission." General Hammond said.

"Look, george," Jacob said, "I more than anyone here knows that you can't officially authorise this but we're talking about the whole planet here. Exceptions have to be made."

General Hammond turned his head to Jack. "I won't order you to go if you don't want to, Colonel."

O'Neill was thinking, "But Jacob is right, sir."

"He usually is," Sam muttered under her breath.

"If those ships fly too close to earth's orbit, it will be too late."

"So your coming then?" Jacob asked with very little surprise in his voice.

"Yes." His demeanor turned solemn.

"Then you have a go." Everyone sitting at the table stood up and got ready to disembark.


	3. Vorash

Each member of SG1 plus Jacob and Martouf made their ways to Vorash via stargate. Upon their arrival, Jacob lead them towards a ring platform. They rung aboard the cargo ship.

"What now kids?" Jack asked, Jacob just gave him a glare that clearly said I'm way too old to be called kid thank you very much, but Jack carried on as if nothing had happened.

"We plot a course for the solar system that Memes orbits."

"We?" He asked sarcastically, turning his head to the side.

"Me and Sam," Jacob clarified.

"Thought so," Sam rolled her eyes at her Commanding Officer, brushed past him and followed her dad to the control room.

Daniel and Teal'c stared at each other. "I could never plot a course for anything." He stated. Teal'c and Daniel rolled their eyes at him and shook their heads. Martouf just looked at him, "No sense of direction," he clarified.

Martouf nodded his head.


	4. Talks with Lantash

All Sam's friends were gathered in the main foyer of the cargo ship. Sam however, was in the crystal room. She was programming the crystals to accept the new coordinates for the Memes solar system. "Dad, I'm done." She called over the radio.

"Alright, now get your sorry ass back here now." He said playfully.

Sam rolled her eyes as did Jack and Daniel. Martouf and Teal'c only cocked their heads to the side. Then they heard static followed by "yes dad" come over the radio.

Sam appeared by the entrance of the room, "the coordinates have been uploaded into the cargo ship's mainframe but I estimate that it will take about an hour maybe even more to get there."

"Good. Then perhaps we can talk?" Lantash's deep voice rung throughout the interior of the ship. All eyes turned to his sudden outburst. "Please, Major." He pleaded.

Sam looked at her CO, awaiting orders. He sat himself on the ground and glared up at Martouf. "I want her back by 8." He sounded like a scolding father whose daughter was just about to leave for her first date. It confused everyone in the room when Sam's reprimanding father was already present. Jacob only rolled his eyes. 'That's my job, colonel,' he thought.

Sam nodded her head and followed Lantash to the cargo bay. He closed the doors behind him and they began talking.

THE WHOLE STORY  
"Martouf would want to talk about this to you but I am afraid that his emotions are getting the better of him at the moment."

"Oh. Is he okay?" She asked, worried.

"He is. But I am afraid that Martouf is much younger then my other hosts and the blade of emotion cuts him deep." He said almost nonchalantly. "I'm afraid that there are some pains that even a 2000 year old Tok'ra symbiote such as myself cannot heal."

"Oh. So what's wrong?" She asked concerned.

Lantash dropped his head. His hand rose to his mouth and he began to pace around the room. He was trying to find the words to explain something, but the words weren't forming.

"For as long as we have known each other, I have not spoken a word of how I met Jolinar's last host. I intend to tell you now. If you will let me explain." Lantash's deep voice echoed throughout the room. It was slightly menacing.

"Yes," she said weakly, "you can tell me anything. But why the privacy?"

"I fear Colonel O'Neill would not like what I am about to say." He said simply.

Sam sat down on the floor, intently looking at Lantash. After a moments hesitancy, Lantash scooted himself beside her. She felt a calming wave envelope her, and a jolt of something akin to electricity surge through her veins. It felt good.

"When I met Aurisa I thought she was a very beautiful women, but she was dying of what her people called Niteris. Your people would call it Cancer."

Sam's eyes widened. She felt an overwhelming rush of sympathy for her symbiote's former host. But still she allowed Lantash to continue.

"Her peoples world was under the tyrannical rule of Sobek. But they were very faithful to him. They begged him to save her life, and to reward their faithfulness, he gave them a mature goa'uld symbiote."

Sam's mouth dropped to the floor and looked at Martouf tugging on the hem of his clothes, not believing her ears. "They were going to turn her into a goa'uld host?"

Lantash gravely nodded his head, "yes. But not just any goa'uld, Sorden, Sobek's mate."

"What?" She asked a little bit infuriated.

"For her people, it was considered the highest honor. In those days, the Tok'ra were in great numbers and could afford to travel through the stargate much how your people do now, only in units of about 2 or 3. Selmak and I were dispatched to Memes to examine. I established myself as a Lord under Sobek, planning on killing him, while Selmak hid out among the local people.

"But Aurisa was dying quickly. Selmak stopped the ceremony of implantation before it happened and brought the symbiote to me and I was the one to kill her. Selmak convinced the people of Memes that the goa'uld were not gods and then they rose up against him, but Selmak was captured and tortured for his crimes."

"Oh, no." She looked at him in wide-eyed fear.

"When Selmak didn't yield to torture she had a device planted in her that made her reveal the name and location of the Tok'ra base. Which as you know, Sobek ordered me to destroy."

"but you couldn't."

"No, the Tok'ra are my people and I could not do it. He threatened to go down to the planet and kill Jolinar who was in need of a host at the time and in a very fragile state because the host that she was in prior to that time had died. But I could not do it."

At this point, Lantash grew conscious and shivered as if remembering a pained memory. "Back on Memes, Aurisa was very near death and her parents cursed me for killing the symbiote."

"So you let her become host to Jolinar." She said deep in thought.

"Yes," his voice broke, "But not right away." He paused. "Aurisa had followed me onto Sobek's mothership without my knowing about it and found Sobek before I did. I blew up the systems engines and as I made my way back to the teleporter rings, I found her dying on the floor of the ship. I took her back with me. She had a Zat'nikital with her which she used to save my life many times that day, so when we got off the ship, I decided to return the favour. From then on, we assumed that Sobek was dead because damaging the engines caused a chain reaction, that evidently ended in the ships explosion. But he must have escaped."

Lantash was breathing very deeply and trying to calm his nerves, but it wasn't working well. He successfully held back tears, but there was a sad demeanor that had befallen him like no other Sam had ever seen before. It was like Martouf was so shaken with emotion that even his symbiote couldn't control him completely.

"Lantash?"

"I am sorry, Major Carter." She was now talking to Martouf, "But looking at you, is like looking at her." Martouf began to cry. "Your hair is like the sand and eyes like the ocean. She was fearless and sometimes rash," Sam feigned a hurt look, "But I loved her all the same."

Sam felt a sudden change in the atmosphere of the room when he said those words. Sam's arm wrapped around Martouf and they swallowed in each other's embrace. They took firm grips of each others' arms and hoisted themselves up. But Martouf lifted his head to look into her eyes and leaned in. "Sam?"

She didn't get to respond before his lips met her's. It was soft at first but then Sam felt a soft tug at the small of her back pulling her closer to him. They were only soft kisses. They weren't passionate but to Sam and Martouf they were all they needed. They only broke away occasionally to breathe, but their eyes never opened. Her hands stayed by her side and his stayed at his side. They were slow. But neither felt the need to rush.

"Hey, Carter?" O'Neill called out but no one responded. Sam didn't even hear him. She was too focused on Martouf. "Carter." He said again, but still no response. He pulled out of an alcove and saw her and Martouf kissing.

Suddenly his stomach hit the floor. He left quietly and let the two do whatever it was they were doing.

"Colonel?" Asked Jacob, "Did you get them?"

The Colonel took off his sunglasses and walked towards the control panel. "They're busy." He said slightly irritated.

Everyone lifted their eyebrows and turned their heads to the side to get a better look at him, but no one said anything. All of them thinking that it was better to take him at his word instead of question him further. No one wanted to get in the way of an irritated Colonel O'Neill. People have often found that out the hard way.

"We're here." Came the low voice of Selmak.


	5. Memes

As addicting as it was, Martouf and Sam had to stop kissing. They had felt the ship drop out of hyperspace which meant it was time to get back to the others. "You leave first. That way they won't suspect anything." He said kissing the back of Sam's hands as a final goodbye.

Sam didn't even look at Martouf. She got so nervous all of a sudden, like a giddy schoolgirl. She reluctantly let her hands fall out of Martouf's gentle touch and walked away.

She took a deep breath before entering the Control Room. She rubbed her hands through her hair and composed herself quickly. She plastered a smile on her face despite the fact that she had a horrible sinking feeling from being away from Martouf. She walked in confidently. "Sorry, for taking so long, Sir. I was busy."

All eyes were on her. She could feel the tension building. "oh yes, busy with Marty." The Colonel said sarcastically.

"Um, yeah," came her reply in a weak attempt to sound casual. Sam turned to look at Martouf who had just walked in, still stoic as if nothing had happened. It was obvious that Lantash had control over the body. The host would not have looked so composed. The Colonel gave him the death glare. She tried to remain stoic like Lantash, but her walls were crumbling faster than his.

"I'll go check on the engines." She said out of the blue. She turned to leave but her Commanding Officer pointed in her direction which told her to tell her to stop.

"Negative. We're about to descend to the planet. Ready all weapons."

"Sir?" She asked quizzically.

"Carter, it's a goa'uld stronghold. We're going down heavily armed." The colonel felt like bugs were creeping up his skin he was so annoyed with Carter. It was a kind of irritation that should be foreign for most people. To him, it was a regular occurrence. It felt like an itch that he couldn't cure.

"Yes, Sir." Carter played the role of the good solider very well.

"Okay kids, what's the plan?" He said in an unusually chipper voice. Daniel could sense that he was trying to overcompensate for overwhelming feelings.

"We could fake getting captured." Daniel spoke. His friends were surprised that he would mention that, given that he was the scientist and not the military mastermind. "Plant some C4 someplace and run like hell."

"Daniel Jackson I do not believe your plan would work."

Daniel looked confused.

"T is right. They'd search us the minute we got on sight." Jack rubbed his head. His hair began sticking up randomly in different places. He never looked so good then when he was ruggedly pushing his hair back in a less then graceful manner.

"No, Daniel's got a point." Jacob said, pointing in Daniel's general direction, "We can set up a distraction. One or two of us stay onboard the cargo ship. The rest can be intentionally captured to set up a diversion."

Jack began tossing the C4 to everyone in the room, "Whose going to stay behind?"

"Sir, I think Martouf, Teal'c and my Dad should stay."

Martouf looked at Samantha, saddened at her suggestion. "Why do you say that Carter?" he said, "something we should know about?" he eyed her suspiciously.

Sam was slightly confused but tried to not let it bother her. "Sir, Sobek will recognize Martouf and kill him on the spot." Sam looked at her dad, "And My dad will be killed once Sobek senses the symbiote."

Martouf beamed at her for defending him, but the disturbances caused by his symbiote was growing. Lantash was setting his teeth on edge. Inside he was crushing. He didn't want his friends to die on his account.

"I do not need you to defend me, women of the Tau'ri!" Lantash shrieked. "I won't sit here in idle cowardice while friends lay their lives at the feet of my enemy!" tears started coming down his face. The host's human emotions were bleeding through the influence of the control of the Tok'ra.

Sam stared at him with shock written all over her face. She didn't lash out at him though, which is what the Colonel was expecting her to do. Instead she walked quietly towards him.

She took his face in her hands, "Look at me," she said softly, "You will die if you set even one foot on this planet. I can't risk you dying."

"She's right, Martouf." Came the voice of Selmak, "We cannot go." The sound of the elders of the Tok'ra immediately had calmed him down. "It would be suicide for us."

"But Sam," Daniel spoke again getting everyone's attention, "What about the protein marker left by Jolinar. Wouldn't he be able to detect that?"

Lantash brightened at Daniel's comment. Now there was a chance that Sam had to stay.

"We can use that to our advantage," Sam spoke. Lantash looked crestfallen and oddly, the Colonel took some sick pleasure out of it. "Sir, I get the idea based on what Lantash told me before, that if Jolinar were to go back to Memes again, Sobek would want to kill her. With Jolinar already dead, killing her last host would be the next best thing."

"Exactly what did he tell you?" Sam had a guilty look on her face and blushed.

"Martouf's mate, Aurisa, was from Memes and was dying of cancer. Sobek intended for her to become host to his mate Sorden before the Tok'ra stopped it and was implanted with Jolinar." Jacob said almost nonchalantly.

"What?!" The colonel swiftly turned around and looked at her like she had gone nuts. "You expect me to let you walk in to enemy territory with Binar 2.0 on our collective tails, with an Iron maiden poised to kill you?"

"Sir, what other choices do we have? If he's after me, I can get to him."

"That's what you said about Hanson." He muttered. He hadn't intended for her to hear that but tears were welling in his eyes. He was still to irritated at her to feel sympathy. All eyes looked at the Colonel but he was only vaguely aware of a blonde standing in front of him. What he saw her and Martouf do, made his heart grow cold.

"That was uncalled for, Jack." Daniel said. Sam rushed out of the room, still holding her head high before finally crumbling when she was out of plain sight. "You need to apologize."

"No, here's a better idea, Daniel, why don't you go and calm her down. You're good at that." He almost yelled.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Daniel hissed. He glared at the man who was suppose to be his best friend the huffed and scurried to find Carter.

"Jack! Why the hell did you have to go and say that for?"

"Jacob, I'm..."

"NO! You listen to me!" Jacob pointed to Jack's chest and said in a very even dangerous tone of voice, "That's my daughter. CO or not, I'm holding you personally responsible for anything that happens to her. Do anything to hurt her and you'll have the entire Tok'ra high council to answer to." He stormed out of the room calling out Sam's name.

"Is something troubling you, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, observing the scene from a distance.

Jack walked over to the controls and thought Teal'c's question over. He dropped to the floor with a loud thump. He knew there was something wrong with him, but settled with a forced, "No. I'm fine."


	6. Emotionally Compromised

After some coaxing from Daniel and her Dad, Sam agreed to go along with the plan that she had proposed to the Colonel, who so cruelly dejected her.

"He's only trying to keep you out of harm's way." Daniel suggested. "He didn't mean to sound so angry."

Sam looked at him directly in the face, "Yeah, but why is he angry? He's usually so even tempered so why did he turn into a hot shot pilot so suddenly?"

"Hot shot pilot?" Jacob questioned.

Sam looked at her father, "You know what I mean."

"I don't know. But He has to get over it otherwise he risks being emotionally compromised."

Jacob was leaning against the wall above his daughter. "Daniel's right, Sam. Hammond would not have authorized this mission if he thought Jack couldn't keep a clear head."

She nodded at both of them and Daniel dragged her up. He hit her on the back several times, like a loving older brother would his younger sister after a rough break-up. Sam got her vest and fastened it around herself. she stuffed as much C4 as it would hold and Daniel followed suit.

Once they were done, Selmak, Daniel and Sam headed back to the Control room of the mother ship. The tension had diffused and Jack was feeling much more like himself then what he was before. "Carter? You ready?" He asked. The way he said it almost sounded like an apology.

"Ready when you are, Sir." She beamed at him. He had hoped by the way she said it that he would understand that he was forgiven. He let out a breath he realized he had been holding and a great weight was lifted off his shoulders.

Daniel, Sam and Jack gathered around the transporter rings while Martouf was standing by the keypad. Before pressing the last key, he said, "Good luck Samantha."

"You too," She looked at the rings that descended from above her head and in a bright white flash, they were gone.


	7. Getting Caught

"Just so we're clear," Jack was ahead of the group cutting at the overgrowth of the gorse and bush, with Sam trailing close behind him and Daniel covering the back. "We are going to intentionally get caught, hoping that snakehead-Sobek will take us onboard his ship, break out of prison, find our weapons again, plant the C4, blow this joint to kingdom come and then run like hell?"

"Sounds about right, Sir." Carter affirmed.

"Good, because I would hate being captured and not have a failed plan to gloat about." Jack's arms rose to his head as he saw a Jaffa patrol point their staff weapons at him. Daniel and Sam did the same and casted their weapons to the ground.

These Jaffa had tattoo's on their foreheads in the vague approximation of a crocodile. The one with the gold embedded emblem ordered another Jaffa to pick up their weapons, then escort them to their master who, as luck would have it, was onboard his mother ship.


	8. According to Plan

Just as Jack had expected, they were all tossed into a cargo bay area that acted as their prison cell. All their weapons, watches, glasses and GDO's had been confiscated and given to Sobek for examination.

Jack was standing by the keypad that would have been used for a perfect getaway had they actually known the pass code that would open the door. He tapped it a few times. He had a confused look on his face, but Carter knew that he was thinking deeply.

"Sir?" She asked walking up behind him.

"Know anything about the circuitry of a car, Carter?" He asked out of the blue.

"Yeah, why?"

"How about hotwiring this thing?"

Carter was about to take a stab at breaking them out when the door lifted to reveal another stoic looking Jaffa.

"Our master would see you, now." He turned his head to the side, much like another Jaffa they knew and left back at on their cargo ship.

"I see, and this master of yours wouldn't happen to have a snake in his head would he?" Daniel felt like whacking Jack at the back of his head. Right now was not the time to be antagonizing the enemy.

The Jaffa grabbed Jack by his hair and shoved him on the floor. "You will respect your god!" He yelled pointing his staff weapon in Jack's face. One of the other Jaffa picked him up and almost dragged him to the control room where Sobek was sitting at his throne.

"Kneel before your god!" The first prime exclaimed.

Sam and Daniel reluctantly obeyed. Jack, however thought that it should be known that he wasn't going to co-operate so easily. "You know I got this problem with the cartilage in my knees." The first prime kicked him anyway, forcing him to kneel. He fell with a loud thump and an "oof," escaped his tongue.

"My lord, these are the trespassers that crossed onto our lands. What shall we do with them?"

Sobek had a ribbon device on his left hand. He wore the same clothing as the goa'uld. Sam thought that the clothing would be considered elegant if it they hadn't been worn by twisted parasites whose ultimate goal was to have the entire human race worship them. There was an aura about these guys that Daniel didn't like. Not just the way they treated people and posed as gods but a sense that all good was crushed out of them a long time ago. "I wish to interrogate them myself. What are you doing here?" Sobek asked so sweetly that it was sickening. No one responded.

"Come now, I am your god. You cannot hide anything from me." He laughed menacingly.

"If you're a god, then why do you need to us to answer your questions?" Daniel asked.

"Be silent unless spoken to, human." And the Jaffa hit Daniel with the hind end of his staff weapon. Daniel grunted.

"It is a test of faith." Sobek turned his view from Daniel to glance at Carter. Suddenly he felt his blood boil. He walked over to her and roughly gripped her face. He turned her head to look at each side to look for entry marks but found none. One of his fingers raked over the teeth in her mouth. Jack cringed at him.

A sick smile crossed his face which made Jack's insides churn. "I sense a presence in you but see no entry marks. Who are you?"

"None of your damn business!" She tried to yell. Sobek hoisted his hand above her head and the device turned on. A crushing weight fell on her brain that was slowing squeezing it. She felt as if she was dying but in slow motion. Jack could see how much pain she was in and prayed that something would stop him. Then, another Jaffa patrol approached Sobek. He heard the Jaffa and swiftly turned around.

"What is the meaning of this?" All false sweetness gone from his voice. He pulled the ribbon device away from Sam's face and she would have dropped to the floor if the Jaffa behind her hadn't been holding her up.

Jack nudged her on her arm as if to ask if she was okay without saying it. She muttered a shallow "Fine, sir." Jack nodded his head in approval at trying to keep up the good soldier act and according to Jack, she was doing a mighty fine job of it. They'd been through worse, and she'd pull through.

The leader of the invading patrol bowed his head in submission. "Forgive me, my Lord. But a cargo ship that does not belong to you was detected in orbit above this planet. And we found these onboard."

The exchanged looks of SG1 were not pleasant ones. Before they knew it, Jacob, Martouf and Teal'c were kneeling on the floor as well. Sobek's eyes zeroed in on Martouf as his face grew with anger. "Shol'vah!" He spat at his feet, "You are the Tok'ra that bought me into ruin!" Sobek smacked his hand on the back of Martouf's cheek. He was about to connect Martouf to the ribbon device when Carter began yelling.

"No, stop!"

Jack glared at her, which was her signal to stop but it wasn't working. An evil grin crossed Sobek's face.

"Ah. She must have been one of the hosts to Jolinar of Malkshur." He laughed again which caused her skin to crawl. "She was your mate wasn't she? You know, I intended for the girl Aurisa to become host to my mate." He meandered back to his throne with the emblem bearing his name above it, "but perhaps I like this one more."

Martouf stood up in anger and rage which threw the Jaffa around him temporarily off-guard. One of the Jaffa regained his bearings more quickly than the others and restrained Martouf before he had the chance to attack Sobek.

Martouf's body temporarily went lifeless. He dropped his head and when it arose he was angry. Lantash was in control. His eyes glowed and he would have killed Sobek right there had he been given the chance. "Hear me, Sobek of Egyptis," Daniel Jackson lifted his head at a familiar name, "I make a solemn oath that I will kill you, even if it is the last thing I do. I swear it." Carter had never seen Lantash get like that about anyone. He literally ran to her defense. Carter was sincerely glad that she could count Lantash among her friends and she counted her lucky stars that she didn't find her name on his hit list.

"Gods cannot die, Lantash of Kinsguard." Lantash's eyes glowed. He was angry. Very angry. Then Sobek began laughing. "Take all the men back to the holding room. Ready the women for implantation. She will not be Sordan, but perhaps she could be the host of my new mate." He remarked cruelly.

Lantash attempted to reach out and kill him but was already being dragged away before he got the chance to ring his neck.

Sam was being drawn away from the rest of her team. Jack tried to save her, but the Jaffa's grip on her was too much.

"Carter! Don't worry! I'll find you!"

"You always do, Colonel."


	9. Not According to Plan

Jacob, Jack, Martouf, Teal'c and Daniel were all shoved back into the same Cargo bay area. The Colonel banged his head against the wall several times. "Jack?"

"What Daniel?"

"What's gotten into you? You seem a little bit on edge."

"Carter is about to become a damn host Daniel, not for the first time I might add. Of course I on edge." Daniel could not have been more annoying than he was at that moment.

"We're all worried about her, Jack." He said solemnly.

"Daniel! I am not in the mood!"

"Nor am I." Lantash said in his deep voice.

"Yeah, Neither." This time It was Jacob that spoke up.

"How can you just sit by and be so calm when Carter is having a snake implanted in her head and we are locked in a cage and can't do a damn thing?" He eyed Daniel, grinding his jaw.

"well," he lifted his eyebrow, "it has been my experience that being hot headed in a situation like this does not help anyone." He stated simply.

"I concur." Teal'c said.

"Teal'c, what are you doing?" Jack asked somewhat irritated again.

"I am attempting to open the doorway, O'Neill." He hooked one wire to another and the doorway opened.

Colonel smiled. "Nice going, T." It was the first time that he had felt anything close to hope in what felt like a lifetime.

"Thank-you, O'Neill." Everyone in the room followed him out.

"Jacob, Daniel and Teal'c, I want you three to find our weapons and plant the C4 near the power core of the ship. Me and Marty are going after Sam."

Everyone split off into their respective groups. 'Let the trouble ensue,' Jack thought gleefully.


	10. You have your orders

Jacob and the rest of his group huddled in a small alcove out of ears reach of any prying Jaffa.

"So where do we start?" Jacob asked.

"They usually put our weapons in cargo bays inside large crates." Daniel stated.

"I saw them move large crates on our way to level four when they escorted us inside, Daniel Jackson."

"Good, we're on level three. Think you can show us where they are?" Jacob asked.

"I can, Jacob Carter." Teal'c got up to leave and everyone followed him to the transporter rings. They hid behind the walls as they snaked their ways around the ship. Two Jaffa were rung down.

Under normal circumstances, Jacob or Selmak, Teal'c and even Daniel would have shot the Jaffa until they were lifeless bodies lying on the ground. Unfortunately, the best they could do this time was hide and hope that they didn't get caught. They weren't.

Teal'c was standing closest to the key pad. He punched in the correct buttons and went to stand where Jacob and Daniel were standing. The group were all rung up to level 4 and began their search of their weapons dodging patrols as they went. They found the correct Cargo bay and armed themselves. The vests had their C4 securely inside. Jacob began distributing the P90's and Teal'c took one of the staff weapons.

"Okay, we have our weapons and our orders, next up, plant the C4."


	11. We have Carter

For as much as Jack hated being with Marty after what happened on the Cargo Ship, he had to admit that if his feelings for Sam were sincere and reciprocated, he had no business poking his nose in places where it didn't belong.

"Alright, Marty, this Sobek guy. Where would he take Carter?"

"I am confident that he would take her back to his personal quarters and then have his servants dress her in the appropriate attire. Which for this goa'uld is likely to be something resembling that of an ancient Egyptian."

"Alright. Where might these quarters of his be?"

"This way." Lantash spoke this time instead of Martouf. Jack followed him as they dodged the guards and patrols hiding at every corner. Neither one of them were armed but both were skilled at hand to hand combat.

Two Jaffa came strolling around the bend and Jack pointed to them. Martouf nodded his head. The pair of them both ambushed the Jaffa and neither one of them had a standing chance. Jack knocked one in the head and took his staff weapon. He shot the Jaffa in the gut. Martouf punched the Jaffa in the gut several times. He cringed and then he stole the staff weapon and shot him.

"Should we take their staff weapons?"

"No they're too cumbersome. Just get their Zats." Jack pulled his out of the Jaffa that was knocked out and hit him three times. "Do the same to their staff weapons." Lantash did as he was ordered and took the lead. He pointed to the end of the hall.

Lantash and Jack both hid behind alcoves and corners as patrol's passed by. They finally found Sobek's private quarters and found Carter knocked out lying on the bed. She wore a simple white dress with a gold-leafed diadem on her head.

They first thing the boys did was ran over to Sam to check for entry marks. "She hasn't been taken, Colonel." Lantash said with relief. He saw that there was a ribbon device by her bed side. One that would likely belong to her once she became a host. Lantash took it.

"Good, let's get out of here."

"I do not think so." It was another deep voice that didn't come from Lantash. Sobek. "you took the life of my mate, I shall do the same to you."

Lantash let out a loud scream that made the room tremble. "I will not let harm come to her!" He used the ribbon device to try and propel him back. It worked on the Jaffa guarding him, but Sobek held his hand device out. The force projected by them both, met in mid-air.

"Colonel! I do not know how long I can hold them! Get Major Carter out of here!"

"We don't leave our people behind!" He yelled.

Sobek, Lantash and O'Neill felt a disturbance in the balance. The C4 had been planted and gone off. Now they guessed that Jacob, Daniel and Teal'c had made a beeline for the transporter rings to the Cargo Ship. The projected force from the hand devices had broken off as Lantash and Sobek fell to the floor but Lantash recovered faster and knocked Sobek out with the hand device. O'Neill and Lantash both ran up to the now lifeless body. Martouf took over.

"Although he is dead now, his Jaffa will come quickly and place him inside his sarcophagus which as you know will revive him. I swore that killing Sobek would be the last thing I would do and that is an oath I intend to keep."

The Colonel hesitantly walked over to Carter and threw her over his shoulders. He ran for the door, knowing that Carter would kill him later.

O'Neill shot at and dodged the Jaffa as they were coming towards him. He ran to the transporter rings and rung aboard the Cargo ship in orbit around Memes. He placed Carter gently on the floor. "Teal'c! Back to Vorash!"

The cargo ship went into hyperspace and everyone but Teal'c, who was piloting the craft, went towards Carter. Daniel called out her name a few times. When that wasn't working, Jack gave it a shot.

"Carter I order you to wake up."

She woke. She was dazed and slightly out-of-it but all were glad to see her alive and well. 'that's a good soldier,' he thought.

"Martouf?" She asked tiredly.

"Sorry Carter. He didn't make it." Jack said.

"No. no." She started shaking her head. "He can't be. I felt him. I felt it." She was breathing heavily and was beginning to panic.

Jack took her by the shoulders and shook her. "Carter, he's gone."

"No. no." Her eyes were beginning to get very droopy and Jack quietly laid her on the ground of the ship. The weight of losing a friend was heavy and she was paying the price.

"What happened?" Jacob asked.

"Marty got him but stayed behind to make sure there was no chance of revival."

The ride back to Vorash was not easy or quick. Everyone onboard was quiet, except for Carter's ramblings, and no one was willing to talk. It was silent. And like a protective shadow, Jack stood watch over her. In truth, he was sorry that Martouf had died, but not because he felt any remorse for loss. It was because Carter was dying inside being away from him. Jack had already died inside when he saw them together. At Carter's expense, Jack felt glad that Martouf was dead.

'We have Carter,' he thought to himself, 'that's all that matters.'

When they landed on Vorash, Jack carried Sam in his arms cradling her. Jacob kissed her tenderly on her forehead. Daniel dialed earth and put in his GDO signal. He and Teal'c disappeared into the event horizon, leaving Jack to talk to Sam's dad.

"For as much as I would like to return to earth," he said stroking Sam's hair, "I have to explain my actions to the high council. I never got the okay to go on this mission with you and the rest of SG1." Jack nodded and began walking away. "Oh and Jack," he turned around, "tell Sam that Martouf died doing what was right."

"I will."


	12. Home

Carter was on the receiving end of some weird looks from the airmen at her unusual attire as she was slowly regaining consciousness in the arms of the Colonel. She stirred as Jack walked abruptly down the ramp.

"Sir?" She asked as she opened her eyes.

"Can you walk?" She nodded.

"The mission didn't go so well, I take it?" Asked the General who was already in the gate room waiting for them to return.

"No, sir. The mission was a success. But we have ample reason to believe that Martouf is dead."

The General looked at him with a smile. Jack and Sam exchanged surprised looks. "Report to the infirmary. Then we debrief."

They made their usual stroll towards the SGC's infirmary to get checked out by Dr. Frasier. They were both cleared for active duty. Carter was in shock at what happened but otherwise checked out okay. Daniel and Teal'c were there waiting for the other two to finish their check-ups. "Sam, you can change if you want." Frasier said, handing her a clean set of BDU's.

"Do you want us to go?" Jack asked. Looking at his friend, intently

"wait, sir, please." Carter wasn't felling like being alone at the moment. Everything hurt and it hurt Jack to see her in such a broken down state.

Carter went into the stall to change and came out five minutes later. Her clothes were ill-fitting and oversized and she looked exhausted.

In one big group, SG1 went into the briefing room. General Hammond was already sitting at the head of the table. "SG1 reporting as ordered, sir." Jack performed a lazy salute as Carter snapped into attention.

"SG1, take a seat. I have someone here for you."

Everyone took a seat, then Martouf walked through the door. Sam's face lit up like a light. Jack looked away in disgust.

"how did you get out?"

"I killed Sobek using a hand device when the room shook after the explosion produced by the C4 Jacob, Teal'c and Daniel planted. But I knew that his Jaffa would try to revive him using his sarcophagus. I lit a fire that I then used to burn his body, then took one of his Jaffa's staff weapons and destroyed the sarcophagus. I then went to the Stargate to dial earth.

"I truly am sorry for that General Hammond but I couldn't risk the goa'uld finding the Tok'ra home base."

"No, we understand."

Martouf looked at Sam who was glad that the weight of the world had finally been lifted from her shoulders.

"I do have a question though," Daniel Jackson said, "You called him Sobek of Egyptis. What does that mean?"

"Sobek was born on this planet in a country that my people call Egyptis, after the mother who bore all the tau'ri that lived there."

"Interesting."

"Dr Jackson?" General Hammond asked.

"In the bible, Egyptus was the wife of Ham who was mother to the original inhabitants of Egypt."

"Yes, that is what the Tok'ra believe as well. But I really should be getting back to Vorash now." He stated regretfully.

"Leaving so soon?" Sam asked sadly.

"I am sorry, Samantha. Perhaps I could stay longer another time."

"I'd like that."

Sam escorted Martouf to the gate room. The rest of the team were looking out at them from the briefing room above.

Martouf took her by the hands and kissed them. "I am sorry we could not stay and talk more, Samantha. But there are other goa'uld that pose a threat that are my sworn duty to defeat for the safety of the galaxy. For you." He kissed her hands and she blushed. "Although, a heavy laden burden has now been lifted from my shoulders that Sobek is now dead."

The shimmering pool of the event horizon sparkled making Martouf's features more benevolent than usual. He never took his eyes off her face. "Samantha, I have begun to feel for you just as I have felt for Aurisa."

Still not letting go of her hands, he kissed her. The kisses were slow, like on the Cargo ship, but this time, Martouf begged for passage. Sam broke off the kiss, realizing where and what planet they were standing on. Martouf looked at the floor and blushed. "I am sorry if I have offended you."

Samantha laughed. "No, Martouf." She lifted his chin, "Just we're not as open about feelings as the Tok'ra are."

Martouf's head dropped to the floor and he let go of Sam's hands. "I will see you again, Samantha." And he disappeared into the Stargate. Sam had a wide grin spread across her face. She turned around to see a lone figure standing in the briefing room. Her CO had a frown on his face. His walls were coming up, but Carter knew that inside his heart was breaking.

The smile disappeared.


End file.
